Molecular markers of cancer

With increasing interest in undertaking animal experimental and human clinical and intervention studies to evaluate the role of lycopene in cancer prevention, it is important that well-established molecular and clinical markers of cancer be used in these studies. In general, the main clinical end points used in animal and human experiments are the tumor burden and volume and survival rates. Now that our understanding of cancer pathology has advanced, several molecular events are beginning to be recognized and used in research to evaluate the outcomes from intervention studies. A brief overview of some of the more important molecular markers of cancer that can and should be used in future studies is presented in this section. 

Welsh JB, Zarrinkar PP, Sapinoso LM, et al. Analysis of gene expression profiles in normal and neoplastic ovarian tissue samples identifies candidate molecular markers of epithelial ovarian cancer. PNAS USA 2001 98 1176-81. 

Bastian PJ, Nakayama M, De Marzo AM, Nelson WG. GSTPl GpG island hypermethylation as a molecular marker of prostate cancer. Uro/oge A. 2004 43 573. 

Cheung, l.Y, Barber, D. et al. (1998) Detection of microscopic neuroblastoma in marrow by histology, immunocytology, and reverse transcriptase-PCR of multiple molecular markers. Clin Cancer Res, 4, 2801-2805. 

Hi) PCR in cancer research. Since clinical markers of predictive value are not available for cancers, PCR is not yet of much diagnostic value for this human malady. However, PCR is being tremendously used to gain insights into the molecular basis of cancer. Some exeunples of this use are cited below. 

Cheung lY, Vickers A, Cheung NKV (2006) Sialyltransferase STX (STSSiall) a novel molecular marker of metastatic neuroblastoma. Int J Cancer 119 152-156... 

Mutluhan H, Akbas E, Eras-Erdogan N et al (2008) The influence of HER2 genotypes as molecular markers on breast cancer outcome. DNA CeU Biol 27 575-579... 

Molecular Biology of 5-FU Metabolism Current Standard of Care for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Pharmacogenomics and Prognostic AND Predictive Markers Thymidylate Synthase Polymorphisms TS Polymorphisms as Prognostic AND Predictive Factors Other Polymorphisms of the 5-FU Metabolism Conclusion References... 

DNA Microarrays for Transcription Profiling Tumor Tissue Microarray and Proteomic Profiling Of Protein Kinases Molecular Profiling for Cancer Therapeutics New Guidelines For Reporting Tumor Marker Studies Conclusions References... 

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